American Cobra Pilot

27 March 2014. In my stateroom aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, languishing off the coast of South Korea, several dozen nautical miles from Pohang, an industrial city on the southeastern coast of the peninsula. The waters in this part of the world have a blue green tinge. Not the green of the Atlantic or the deep mysterious blue of the Pacific but a mix of the two. As the proximity of the ship to the shore shortens I begin to notice a higher density of large cargo container vessels. The typical rectangular box shaped metal containers stacked high on the deck of the long and narrow ships. I’ve been told Pohang is the heart of South Korea’s steel production. Makes sense that they are exporting a lot of materials and products. Maybe there are Kias in those containers I wonder. I’ve got some pre-exercise nerves. Operation Ssang Young 2014 is only a few days away. I hope it all goes well. I’m just stressed out and struggling to plan for the role our Cobra helicopters have been given. I dig into my Naval Tactics Techniques and Procedures or NTTP for the Cobra, Chapter 1 Mission Planning. I scroll a few pages down and find my starting point. Problem Framing adapted from the Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 1 Marine Corps Planning Process. “Problem framing enhances understanding of the environment and the nature of the problem. It identifies what the command must accomplish, when and where it must be done, and most importantly, why—the purpose of the operation.” Before heading to my stateroom I attended a preliminary briefing for the exercise and as I scan my notes it dawns on me that I haven’t taken anything down on the enemy situation. I understand we were going to be doing some shooting at one of the southern ranges in the vicinity of Pohang. But there is no mention of the enemy. Nothing, the word enemy isn’t even written. Did I just zone out? Unsat I think to myself. I decide to ask my neighbor one door down in the officer berthing what he has. He is just as surprised that he hasn’t taken anything down about the enemy. I get desperate and knock on several more doors. Same answer. When I return back to my stateroom I decide to check my email to take my mind off of it for a few minutes. My last course of action will be to question our detachment officer in charge. I shy away from just the thought of the smashing I will receive if I dare ask what should be obvious. Luckily, as if almost from heaven above, my inbox populates and I read the words of my salvation from our executive officer: From: XO Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 6:54 PM To: 31MEUACE_BHROFFICERS; 31MEUACE_BHRSNCOS Subject: XO meeting passdown All, --Select officer spaces will also be inspected by the MEU XO…not because he wants to. On a related note, if you have spoons or coffee mugs from the ward room please return them ASAP. --Haircuts and uniform wear. BGen Kennedy has already pulled several Marines aside for non-reg haircuts. Make sure everyone has a fade of some kind and are properly blousing their trousers. --Vending machines…jamming your cash card in harder until the reader breaks does not make the items free, it just breaks the machine. No way to fix them. Do the math. -- Bulk laundry room. Someone is taking all the knobs off the washer and dryers. While this is an ingenious way to ensure you have a machine available, it is not the right thing to do. Stop it if it is us. --Broken door in berthing is getting higher level attention and should be getting fixed…sooner or later. This last one is the most important. Everyone needs to realize this is NOT a tactical exercise. This is a political exercise to show that even in fiscally constrained times we (Uncle Sam) can still throw together a dozen ships and do a beach assault with all of our toys. What actually makes it to the beach is mostly irrelevant. So don’t get bent out of shape when we do not execute like we have been for the last three weeks. It also illustrates that nothing we are doing is so important that you need to take ANY risk (airspace, routing, altitude deconfliction etc). If the hair on the back of your neck is standing up slow down, take a spin in holding like the CO said and work it out. Thanks, XO VMM-265 (REIN) XO 31st MEU USS BONHOMME RICHARD I breathe a sigh of relief as I comprehend the last paragraph. I wasn’t fucked up after all. There just isn’t an enemy situation. None. My life is so much easier now. I reread the last paragraph a few times, focusing on the key words. Political not tactical, fiscal constraint, toys, irrelevant. I’m not out of the woods yet I think. I was told another brief would be held at 2000, about three hours away. I understand that some very high level VIPs and officers will be giving us a speech in the ready room concerning the exercise. I was sweating bullets over getting the planning done but now that it’s political instead of tactical I just kick my boots off, jump in my rack, and listen to Indie music for 20 minutes before the meeting. At 0600 on 30 March 2014 the first amphibious assault vehicles splash off the ramp of the ship, slowly making their way through early morning fog to the uncertain beaches of Pohang. The shift to the Pacific was on.